The Girl with the Fire Heart

Thankfully, they don’t have to walk very far as they hear the familiar sounds of hooves and wheels making their way to them. The coachman rounds the bend of the road and stops just in time for Damon and Valentina to get in the carriage. They ride back to the country house in silence.

When they make it back to the house, they see that the house is eerily dark. Damon, not wanting to risk Valentina for the second time tonight, jumps down from the carriage, instructing Valentina to stay and for the coachman to leave if and when Damon tells him to go. He walks up to the side of the house, peering into the windows only to be met with complete darkness. He feels his muscles tense in response to the unknown environment. His element begins to pool in his palms and he can feel the familiar waves in his necklace start to ramp up at the possibility of danger.

He edges closer to the door and that’s when he notices, for the first time, that it is open just enough. He lifts his hand, ready to wave the coachman away from the house when he hears shuffling inside. He hears a shushing sound followed by more shuffling before the inside goes quiet again. He stands straight, releasing the tension from his body and letting the power in his veins slowly fade. He drops his head back and lets out an airy laugh before making his way over to the carriage to escort Valentina inside.

“It appears we are in for a bit of a surprise,” Damon tells her, silently grateful for the distraction that is to come from the household staff.

Damon helps Valentina down from the carriage and tucks her hand in the crook of his arm. He looks down at her, smiling, letting her know there is nothing to be afraid of. Damon knows it works when he feels the tension leave her body and she leans into him out of instinct.

Together, they make their way into the house, Valentina’s diamond ring evident against the fabric of Damon’s navy blue suit. Damon pushes the door open with his foot, and almost immediately after his foot hits the tiled floor, the lights come on and the entire household staff come rushing out of the side rooms screaming and cheering.

A few of the maids bumrush Valentina, eager to see her engagement ring. He hears Valentina laugh out loud at their excitement and the remaining bits of worry and concern leave him at her open relaxation. Mr. Brown steps away from the crowd to stand beside Damon, clapping him on the shoulder, a silent gesture of pride.

Damon and Valentina spend some time with the staff, answering as many questions as they can and filling them in on the excitement of their engagement. They don’t mention to anyone the stranger in the fields who shook and tore down the abandoned house. Damon feels Valentina shift closer to him, the telltale sign of her tiredness hitting her in stronger waves, and he yells out to the staff that there would be time enough for them to gush over their engagement.

The staff laugh and cheer once more, dispersing as quickly as they had flooded them with their affection just an hour earlier. Damon walks Valentina up the stairs and to the guest wing’s door, kissing her softly before sending her off to bed.When the door shuts with a soft click, he turns back towards the stairs and heads down to the study, where Mr. Brown predictably is waiting for him.

“Sir, allow me to congratulate you once more. I will send word to your parents as well as to the miss’s parents as well first thing in the morning,” Mr. Brown says.

Damon nods in agreement, saying nothing. He walks around Mr. Brown and behind the big cedar desk. He pushes the chair out but doesn’t sit. Instead he keeps his head down and his eyes trained on the papers littering the top of the desk. His eyes aren’t really seeing anything though. His mind is filtering through the events of the day, looping through the near death experience at the abandoned house.

“Sir?” he hears Mr. Brown ask. Damon looks up sharply, his eyebrows furrowed and his mouth pulled into a frown.

Mr. Brown stands taller at the look on Damon’s face.

“I need you to send another man out, as soon as possible,” Damon instructs. “I believe there is someone out there that has a similar ability to Valentina and I and I need to know who it is and what their element is.”

“How do you know?” Mr. Brown asks.

“We were attacked at the abandoned house. She had just said yes to marrying me, I slipped the ring on her finger and suddenly the house shook. The very force of the ground shaking beneath us caused the walls to crumble and we barely made it out of the house in time. There was someone, a man I presume, out in the fields. I wasn’t able to get a good look at him and he was wearing gloves and dark clothing, but I can only assume the attack was targeted. I need to know what she and I are up against. I won’t take any risks with her life. One man, the slyest one on staff, as soon as possible, Mr. Brown. Not a moment later,” Damon gruffs out. His recounting of the day’s earlier events make him more anxious to get the answers he needs.

Mr. Brown nods and says, “Understood.”

The butler leaves without another word, leaving Damon to his thoughts in the now quiet house.

Valentina’s eyes burst open. It feels like mere minutes when she closed her eyes last night. She looks up at the ceiling, groggily trying to recall what happened the night before. She shifts ever so slightly and that’s when she notices the added weight to her left hand. She freezes in her spot, not quite sure if she wants to know what that weight is, when the memory of fire and black roses and Damon on one knee floods her brain.

Valentina jolts up, sitting in the bed and pulling her left hand to her chest. The diamond ring sits on her ring finger, and just like the night before, her eyes well up with tears at the sight. She feels her fire stir in her necklace and she closes her eyes to let the sensation burn through her. When she opens her eyes again, she smiles brighter than she ever has.